Chevy Malibu sales increased in the United States but decreased in Canada and South Korea during the third quarter of 2023.
| MODEL | Q3 2023 / Q3 2022 | Q3 2023 | Q3 2022 | YTD 2023 / YTD 2022 | YTD 2023 | YTD 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MALIBU | +53.86% | 33,280 | 21,630 | +39.66% | 111,449 | 79,799 |
| MODEL | Q3 2023 / Q3 2022 | Q3 2023 | Q3 2022 | YTD 2023 / YTD 2022 | YTD 2023 | YTD 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MALIBU | -2.34% | 1,672 | 1,712 | +25.17% | 4,655 | 3,719 |
| MODEL | Q3 2023 / Q3 2022 | Q3 2023 | Q3 2022 | YTD 2023 / YTD 2022 | YTD 2023 | YTD 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MALIBU | -100.00% | 0 | 430 | -93.77% | 80 | 1,284 |
Chevy Malibu sales during the third quarter of 2023 kept the Bow Tie brand’s only remaining sedan in third place in its segment from last quarter when ranked by sales volume. This quarter, the Honda Accord bumped perennial leader Toyota Camry for the first time since we started tracking sales for the midsize mainstream sedan segment, taking the top spot with a 74 percent leap to 52,357 units. Did you feel the ground shake when that happened? The Camry followed in second with a five percent drop to 50,595 units. The Malibu (see running Chevy Malibu sales) took third with a 54 percent jump to 33,280 units, followed in fourth by the Nissan Altima, which saw sales grow six percent to 29,270 units. The Kia K5 followed in fifth with a two percent bump to 18,697 units, while the Hyundai Sonata took sixth with a 36 percent drop to 10,007 units. The Subaru Legacy finished out the list in seventh with a 59 percent jump to 7,662 units.
| MODEL | Q3 23 / Q3 22 | Q3 23 | Q3 22 | Q3 23 SHARE | Q3 22 SHARE | YTD 23 / YTD 22 | YTD 23 | YTD 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HONDA ACCORD | +74.29% | 52,357 | 30,041 | 26% | 18% | +37.79% | 152,202 | 110,463 |
| TOYOTA CAMRY | -4.50% | 50,595 | 52,978 | 25% | 31% | +1.67% | 217,975 | 214,403 |
| CHEVROLET MALIBU | +53.86% | 33,280 | 21,630 | 16% | 13% | +39.66% | 111,449 | 79,799 |
| NISSAN ALTIMA | +6.39% | 29,270 | 27,512 | 14% | 16% | -12.83% | 92,511 | 106,122 |
| KIA K5 | +2.44% | 18,697 | 18,251 | 9% | 11% | -7.41% | 49,594 | 53,563 |
| HYUNDAI SONATA | -36.03% | 10,007 | 15,643 | 5% | 9% | +5.97% | 37,341 | 35,238 |
| SUBARU LEGACY | +58.83% | 7,662 | 4,824 | 4% | 3% | +14.35% | 19,622 | 17,159 |
| TOTAL | +18.14% | 201,868 | 170,879 | +10.37% | 680,694 | 616,747 |
From a segment share standpoint, the Malibu earned a 16 percent share, up three percentage points year-over-year. The Accord held a 26 percent share, up a segment-best eight percentage points, while the Camry followed with a 25 percent segment share, down a segment-worst six percentage points. The Altima earned a 14 percent share, down two percentage points, followed by the K5 with a nine percent share, down two percentage points. The Sonata posted a five percent share, down four percentage points, while the Legacy held a four percent share, up one percentage point.
It’s worth noting that the two entries fielded by Hyundai and Kia – the Sonata and K5, respectively – accounted for a cumulative 28,704 deliveries, good for a combined 14 percent segment share but not enough to edge out Nissan, let alone Chevy.
| MODEL | Q3 23 / Q3 22 | Q3 23 | Q3 22 | Q3 23 SHARE | Q3 22 SHARE | YTD 23 / YTD 22 | YTD 23 | YTD 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HYUNDAI SONATA | -36.03% | 10,007 | 15,643 | 35% | 46% | +5.97% | 37,341 | 35,238 |
| KIA K5 | +2.44% | 18,697 | 18,251 | 65% | 54% | -7.41% | 49,594 | 53,563 |
| TOTAL | -15.31% | 28,704 | 33,894 | -2.10% | 86,935 | 88,801 |
The midsize mainstream sedan segment grew 18 percent to 201,868 units during Q3 2023, meaning Malibu sales significantly outperformed the segment average.
The only remaining sedan from Chevy continued a positive sales trend that began early last year, with the Bow Tie’s dated model still holding its own against newer models like the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, and sometimes the Nissan Altima. In fact, the Malibu has outsold the Altima since Q4 2022. All that makes us wonder whether the Malibu could catch up to and even outsell the Toyota or Honda. Stranger things have happened, as sales of the all-new Accord this quarter finally overtook the aging Camry for the first time ever. If Chevy is to outsell the perennial segment best-sellers, then it would likely be with an all-new, next-generation Malibu rumored to be in development and set to launch in the vicinity of the 2025 or 2026 model years.
Meanwhile, the biggest limiting factor to keeping sales of the current Malibu in the green is availability, as the 2023 GM-UAW labor negotiations prompted GM to idle Chevy Malibu, Cadillac XT4 production in September. At the end of October, GM and the UAW reached a tentative contract agreement.
The 2023 Chevy Malibu ushers in a variety of important changes and updates compared to the 2022 Chevy Malibu. The 2023 model discontinues the Premier trim level, repackaging the Premier trim as part of a new 2LT trim level, while also dropping the turbocharged 2.0L I4 LTG gasoline engine and GM 9-speed automatic transmission that powered the Premier model. As such, the 2023 Malibu is available exclusively with the turbocharged 1.5L I4 LFV gasoline engine, which mates to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).
The 2024 Chevy Malibu, meanwhile, arrives as the ninth model year for the ninth-generation nameplate with just a handful of changes and updates over the 2023 model year. The 2024 Malibu drops two hues from its palette – Dark Ash Metallic and Riverside Blue Metallic – while adding one new color, Lakeshore Blue Metallic.
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In the area where I live in southern California, some dealers have zero Malibu's left and most have one or two. I wish we could see what would happen if GM and Chevy advertised them more, promoted them more, trained their sales staff on them better and actually made the dealers stock more. I understand that now the inventory levels may be lower due to the strike, but under normal times it would be nice to see more of them. I'm betting if they did those things, the Malibu would beat the Accord and give the Camry sales a run for their money.
Here in Canada, there are none in inventory, if 1 arrives its promptly sold.
It would be amazing how many they could sell if they had inventory
It defies logic and common sense, but I suspect GM doesn't want to sell many more Malibus because that would confirm their planners blew it by effectively giving up on the segment. No idea if that is the actual reason, but it could be because GM corporate does weird stuff like that.
tombalas: That could very well be part of it. Sometimes admitting a mistake is so difficult that it causes people (businesses) to continue down the wrong path just to keep up the appearance of not doing wrong.
Yet on the flip side, if GM really wants to keep selling tons of huge trucks and SUV's, they should also be just as wanting to keep selling as many high MPG vehicles as they can to offset the fuel economy of those trucks/SUV's that make them more profit. So purposely suppressing Malibu sales would be like cutting off your nose in spite of your face.
Does Mary still want to kill it?
If you look at the Global B article chart, you'll see that an all-new Malibu is on the docket for '25. Raise a glass!!
I remember GM was going to kill it because “nobody buys sedans”.
If GM has two electric Cadillac sedans in the advanced planning stages, then it can add a Malibu based electric sedan on the same assembly line.
I really wish GM would've developed a competitive hybrid malibu. Not everyone wants EV.
Crazy to think that after 8 years of being on the market. The Malibu is selling as well as it is. It's last major update was in 2019. But if they were to update the Malibu to be more modern. It would probably sell like hotcakes. If they were to make an E-AWD version with a hybrid system making at least 280 hp I would be sold.
Mary gonna try to still kill it SMH 😡